TV for XP

[none]

Was recently cruising ebay and saw TV tuners which work in USB ports.
Looked intriguing, especially as I'd like one for the laptop. Here in
the U.S. all analog TV broadcasting will stop in just over a year so any
TV tuner would have to be digital.

My questions are these:

1. has anyone tried a USB (digital) TV tuner and found one they can
recommend?
(if so, please let us know the brand/model)

2. Do these small digital tuners allow PAL and NTSC reception?

3. how good is the software which comes with it?

Would like to hear your experience!

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If you don't have a mail address with "GoDaddy.com, Inc." stop abusing a
registered domain name! Shall others get all the spam on behalf of you?

My questions are these:

1. has anyone tried a USB (digital) TV tuner

Both PCMCIA and USB 2.0 digital TV tuners.

and found one they can recommend?

That depends. Those having a tiny rod antenna only are wasted money even
with built-in amplifier. Those having also a connector to the roof antenna
are not too bad.

2. Do these small digital tuners allow PAL and NTSC reception?

That depends. There are models available with both PAL and NTSC
digitizers.

3. how good is the software which comes with it?

No problems under Windows XP. However, running them under Windows Vista
is way better since they usually integrate into the Media Center w/o any
third-party software.

 

[Steve Winograd]

Was recently cruising ebay and saw TV tuners which work in USB ports.
Looked intriguing, especially as I'd like one for the laptop. Here in
the U.S. all analog TV broadcasting will stop in just over a year so any
TV tuner would have to be digital. [snip]

The Federal Communications Commission has mandated an end to
over-the-air analog broadcasts on February 17, 2009.

This doesn't apply to cable systems. Cable systems may still offer
analog signals after that date.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Tim Slattery]

The Federal Communications Commission has mandated an end to
over-the-air analog broadcasts on February 17, 2009.

This doesn't apply to cable systems. Cable systems may still offer
analog signals after that date.

In fact, cable systems MUST supply analog signals after that date. I
don't know how long they have to keep that up.

 

[Tim Slattery]

The Federal Communications Commission has mandated an end to
over-the-air analog broadcasts on February 17, 2009.

I believe that's February 17, 2008, isn't it?

 

[Bob I]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=over-the-air+analog+broadcasts+on+February+17,+200

 

[Steve Winograd]

In fact, cable systems MUST supply analog signals after that date. I
don't know how long they have to keep that up.

That's right, Tim. According to this web page, cable systems must
offer analog broadcast channels until February, 2012:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296694,00.html
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Tim Slattery]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=over-the-air+analog+broadcasts+on+February+17,+200

!!!! Somehow I got the idea it was next February. Obviously I'm dead
wrong and I've got another year to figure things out. Probably just as
well.

 

[Bob I]

!!!! Somehow I got the idea it was next February. Obviously I'm dead
wrong and I've got another year to figure things out. Probably just as
well.

Not a problem, could be you remembered an old timeline.

 

[Poprivet`]

The ruling only applies to "over the air" or "via
antenna" broadcast frequencies. Anyone else using
other freqs can do whatever they want or have been
doing. The ONLY place it matters is if you have an
antenna to receive the TV signals. And, it's even the
same antenna; most are UHF frequencies so if you
previlusly got UHF, don't let anyone sell you a new
antenna!

Was recently cruising ebay and saw TV tuners which
work
in USB ports. Looked intriguing, especially as I'd
like
one for the laptop. Here in the U.S. all analog TV
broadcasting will stop in just over a year so any TV
tuner would have to be digital. [snip]

The Federal Communications Commission has mandated an
end
to over-the-air analog broadcasts on February 17,
2009.

This doesn't apply to cable systems. Cable systems
may
still offer analog signals after that date.

 

[Poprivet`]

In fact, cable systems MUST supply analog signals
after
that date. I don't know how long they have to keep
that
up.

Cite please? I ask because that's BS, I think. Many
around here are already DTV signals, on diff freqs than
the ruling this thread is about, and they are
completely unaffected by that ruling.

 

[Steve Winograd]

Cite please? I ask because that's BS, I think. Many
around here are already DTV signals, on diff freqs than
the ruling this thread is about, and they are
completely unaffected by that ruling.

The FCC has ordered cable systems to offer local stations on analog
cable until 2012. See:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-170A1.pdf
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296694,00.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...e-you-must-support-analog-tvs-until-2012.html
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com